Text: Isaiah 65:17-25
Date: Easter Sunday + 3/27/16
Today almost everything is accomplished. Yes, Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” But what was finished? Finished was His work, His work of fulfilling God’s Law as a human being for us and for our salvation, then His work of carrying the weight of the sin of the whole world to the cross, carrying all sin, everything that separates man from God, to death. Yes, His death. There Jesus died. But in Jesus’ death, death itself died, was disarmed, was stripped of its power. Jesus’ resurrection from death is the triumph of His mission of redemption. Now, as with the catechumens last night, so we also and all who are baptized into Christ are baptized into His death in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. But hold on. There’s more. Something is not yet finished.
Isaiah, mighty seer in days of old, saw more than even he could adequately put into human words.
Isaiah, mighty seer in days of old,
The Lord of all in spirit did behold.
Of all the prophets is there any one of them who was given such a comprehensive vision of God’s plan of salvation? It is through Isaiah that we hear of the Savior’s birth of a virgin. And it is especially in his Servant Songs that we learn of the Savior’s mission climaxing in His vicarious, innocent, bitter suffering and death for us and for the life of the world. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:4-5). So certain was Isaiah that these prophetic words were all written in the past tense, as of a sacrifice sure and complete. And not only that, but Isaiah also wrote of the Suffering Servant’s rising from the grave. Today we celebrate that great mission finished, completed and offered to all.
Now we could speak of this “walk in newness of life” as what it means to be God’s reconciled people here and now. Martin Luther spoke of this life of the Christian as a wrestling match, “when we are involved with the devil’s worst bites and still overcome by faith. This is the very work of faith, to fight against sins and to slug it out with death” (AE 17, Is 65:17-18). But hold on. There’s even something more.
Isaiah, mighty seer in days of old was inspired to write of God’s plan also beyond the grave, beyond life in this world. “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth” says the Lord. This newness of life will eventually be so new that even the very heavens and this earth will come to an end and God here promises that He will create completely new heavens and a new earth! We can’t imagine it. Isaiah couldn’t imagine it. Neither could Job nor Daniel of old. But together they spoke of not a renewed or recycled creation but of a brand new one. And they believed it. They believed God’s Word.
It is with this vision, that there is to be more, something that is not yet finished to give us joyful hope and steadfast faith that even sin, death or the devil cannot destroy. St. Peter spoke about it with these words:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:1-9).
This salvation is already prepared. Jesus said to the repentant thief, “TODAY you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Peter speaks of it as if it were already there because it is. This is finished. But then he says it will be fully revealed in the last time. So it is not finished yet from our perspective. It’s not finished but the promise of God convinces us that, as we may say, “it’s in the bag,” guaranteed, complete already.
But back to right now, Luther’s wrestling of life. Back to right now, we’re troubled because we cannot see this new creation except by faith. The kingdom of Christ is not to be found in obvious observation, feelings or imagery of the mind. Still we wrestle. Again, Luther’s words, “So if I should feel sin, death, and evil and nothing good in my flesh, I must nevertheless believe in the kingdom of Christ. For the kingdom of Christ does not have its place in the senses. The treasure lies in the certainty of life. Feelings of despair and afflictions have to do with the sack,” as Luther spoke of our fallen, fleshly, sinful human condition. But then he concludes with these comforting words. “Therefore whoever is tormented in his feeling by sin and death, let him rise again in the Word and kingdom of Christ and say, ‘My Christ lives.’”
So now let us also rise this day in the Word and kingdom of Christ and say, “My Christ lives.” For in that faith we will endure not only to the last day but even after that in the days of eternal life where “no more shall be heard the sound of weeping and the cry of distress…. for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be.”
In Bible class we Googled® “oldest tree” and found this. “A bristlecone pine is the oldest tree in the world. Until 2013, the oldest individual tree in the world was Methuselah, a 4,845-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California.” Lately, however, it has been superseded by the discovery of another bristlecone pine in the same area with an age of 5,065 years (germination in 3050 bc).”
Of course the point is even this doesn’t hold a candle to the eternal life promised us in the new creation, the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. Can you describe eternal life? Could you explain eternal life to a child? Don’t worry. Neither could the mighty seer in days of old. But the fact is there, the promise has been made, and so in the power of the sure and certain hope of our resurrection we look beyond the grave with Isaiah and give all the glory to Christ our risen and ascended Lord.
With joy this day we confidently proclaim of our Lord:
He brings me to the portal
That leads to bliss untold,
Whereon this rhyme immortal
Is found in script of gold:
“Who there My cross has shared
Finds here a crown prepared;
Who there with Me has died
Shall here be glorified.” (LSB 467:7)
Say “My Christ Lives.”